Apple tree named `Knottenbelt Red`

ABSTRACT

A new variety of apple originating as a seedling found growing on the Coromandel Peninsula near Coromandel, New Zealand. It is unique particularly for its bright, cherry-red, overall skin color, flavor, taste and high dessert quality and otherwise as herein described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a new variety of apple tree which wasdiscovered as a whole-tree seedling by Mr. Robert Knottenbelt, PoukawaOrchards, R.D. 11, Hastings, New Zealand. Mr. Knottenbelt found his newvariety growing as a single tree in a paddock used for pasturing sheepand other domestic farm animals on the Coromandel Peninsula nearCoromandel, New Zealand (North Island) in 1972.

Asexual reproduction was successfully accomplished in 1974 at which timesecond generation trees were grafted. Third generation grafts wereplaced in 1977.

Trees from both graft generations have borne fruit true-to-type andidentical to that produced on the original seedling tree.

Fruit from both generations of trees has been successfully exported fromNew Zealand to European markets for testing purposes. The bright redfruits arrived at the market in good condition. The skin condition wasgood with no damage or bruising from handling. Internal condition wascrisp, juicy and firm with excellent flavor and texture.

The selection is now recognized as a new apple variety distinguishedfrom all other apple varieties because of its appearance, rich aromaticflavor and taste, and its unique ability to store well over long periodsin both common and C.A. storage. After seven months in C.A. storage (2%O₂ and 2% CO₂) the fruit showed no scald, wilt or storage rot. Onimmediate cutting and eating, the fruit was crisp, juicy and sweet.After five days at ambient room temperature the fruits were still sound,showed no wilt and possessed a unique sub-acid flavor. The skin is crispand not tough.

Our new variety is a very precocious bearer of heavy crops of fruit(FIG. 1). For this reason, it becomes necessary to pay close attentionto its thinning requirements. Though healthy trees with normal vigor canproduce and support heavy crops of large size fruits, tree vigor must bemaintained and normal, early fruit thinning is required to produce thelarge fruit sizes demanded by most fresh world markets. Normal 12-20 cmspacing of king bloom fruits is recommended. The semi-spur type tree hasshown itself to grow vigorously and sets early crops if propagated ondwarfing and/or semi-dwarfing rootstocks. Compatibility on allrootstocks tested was found to be good.

The tree is a semi-compact grower. Young one-year-old non-bearing treesgrowing in an orchard near Parker, Washington USA produced a totalaverage terminal growth of 3.2 meters (320 cm) in the 1992 growingseason. This compared to similar one-year-old non-bearing, spur-type reddelicious trees which produced an average 2.2 meters (220 cm) of growthin their first year in the orchard and similar one-year-old non-spur RedFuji trees which produced a total average 3.9 meters (390 cm) of growthin this orchard (Table 1 ).

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        TREE VIGOR                                                                    (Parker, Washington, USA)                                                                                Average Grown                                                    Tree Age     per Tree                                           Variety       (yrs in orchard)                                                                           (cm)*                                              ______________________________________                                        Spur Red Delicious                                                                          1            220                                                Knottenbelt Red                                                                             1            320                                                Red Fuji      1            390                                                ______________________________________                                         *Average of ten trees.                                                   

Common bacterial and fungal foliage and back canker diseases such asAnthracnose, Perennial Canker, Nectria Canker Fabraea Leaf Spot, etc.,have not been observed. Powders mildew, rust and scab diseases on leaveshave made only minimal appearances. Although no controlled experimentshave been conducted, close observation indicates that some resistance tothese common leaf disease problems is present in areas where evaluationshave been and are being conducted.

The new selection has now been fully evaluated and has been grown on avariety of properties (areas and soil types) and under severalmanagement techniques. It has performed well under a variety of growingconditions.

Our new variety has not displayed any tendency to biannual bearing.There is some fruit produced even on one-year-old wood. It throwsnumerous laterals close to the horizontal in all directions.

Trees trained to a vase-shape and allowed to grow naturally withoutexcessive pruning and without bracing of limbs (use of crotch expanders)produce natural crotch angles of about 45 degrees on major scaffoldlimbs. A dense canopy of leaves can be expected when compared to thenumber of branches produced because of the new variety's semi-spur typeof growth habit. This is true only when compared to non-spur typevarieties.

The tree is best developed in an open form to enable maximum lightpenetration but can be trained on any system and has shown itself to bean easy variety to train.

Our new variety shows no propensity to form water sprouts when trees areallowed to grow naturally. If limbs are mechanically bent to horizontalangles, normal water sprouts will develop. Trees placed on seedlingand/or the commonly used clonal rootstocks have shown no tendency toform rootsuckers.

Knottenbelt Red is a large, symmetrical, slightly ribbed (FIG. 4),uniquely flavored apple with overall bright red solid blush color(absent of striping) on a yellow-green background (FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5).The bright red blush coloration covers nearly 100 percent of the apple'ssurface in areas of the tree where ample light penetration occurs. Thered overall color develops gradually from mid to late season andoverlays the green background color which by late season shows only inthe basin and stem cavities or where excessive shading has occurred. Itsmany medium size angular yellow-orange fruit lenticels are distinctiveand characteristic of this new variety (FIG. 5). Fruits produced underWashington, USA growing conditions (FIGS. 4 and 5) are slightly moreangular and ribbed in shape and exhibit a more distinct five-pointedcrown than those produced on trees growing in New Zealand (FIGS. 2 and3) where the variety was discovered and early tests were conducted.

The fruits are crisp, juicy and firm with a sweet aromatic flavor evanafter long periods of C.A. storage. The skin is only slightly thickerthan the Gala cultivar, and is less tough than the skin of RedDelicious. The fruit is not prone to sunburn, surface russet orcracking. Continuing research shows that Knottenbelt Red is slightlysubject to bitter pit and internal disorders such as core flush, fungaltype rots and other storage pathogens. Some watercore has been observedin stored fruit which was not harvested at its optimum picking date(over-ripe) (Table 2).

                  TABLE 2                                                         ______________________________________                                        FRUIT MATURITY DATA                                                                           Starch                                                                        Iodine         Size                                                  Soluble  (Golden        Apples                                         Firmness                                                                             Solids   Delicous Color Per Box                                        (lbs/kg)                                                                             (%)      Chart)   (%)   (standard)                                                                            Watercore                              ______________________________________                                        Date of Testing: October 22, 1991                                             16.5   13.0     2.5      90    80      --                                     18.0   16.0     3.5      85    88      Minor                                  18.0   14.2     3.0      85    88      --                                     18.0   16.2     3.0      90    80      --                                     16.5   14.8     2.0      80    80      --                                     Average:                                                                      17.4   14.8     3.0      --    --      --                                     Date of Testing: October 1, 1992                                              (very early season)                                                            16.75 12.6     2.5      90    80      --                                     17.0   14.0     3.0      95    80      --                                     17.5   13.2     2.5      95    80      --                                     16.5   12.6     3.0      80    88      --                                     18.0   12.0     2.0      90    100     --                                     Average:                                                                      17.2   12.9     2.6                                                           ______________________________________                                         Grower: Irrigated Agricultural Research Station, (Washington State            University), Prosser, Washington, USA                                         Variety: Knottenbelt Red                                                 

The fruit is very uniform in shape in al sizes with a characteristicdeep cavity at the calyx end. It sets in clusters of 5 or 6 apples withlong stems. The cherry-red color develops mid-to-late February. In NewZealand at or near the site where discovered and tested, the first pickis about Apr. 7, 1990, and the second pick follows about 14 days later.The first two picks harvest about 90% of the crop. Size range has given85% in 80-125 count with the remaining 15% in the 138-175 range,approximately 30% of fruit fall in 100 count or larger.

Although Knottenbelt Red is not self-incompatible, outside pollensources will help in setting a full crop in some seasons. All diploidmid-to-late season bloomers such as Red Delicious, Golden Delicious,Gala, Jonathan, etc., will and can serve as a good source of pollen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows the new variety apple tree bearing fruit and reflects theproductivity of the tree of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a close-up of a branch of the new variety bearing fruit asproduced in New Zealand.

FIG. 3 is a further close-up showing of the new variety depicting thefruit under cultural conditions in New Zealand.

FIG. 4 shows the shape of the fruit of the tree of this invention asbeing symmetrical and slightly ribbed; the fruit depicted having beenproduced in Washington State, U.S.A.

FIG. 5 depicts the ground color and solid red blush coloring of thefruit which is produced by the tree of this invention and shows thecharacteristic lenticels of the fruit skin; the fruit of this figurebeing grown in Washington State in the United States.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The accompanying photos show typical specimens of the tree and fuit ofour new apple variety depicted in full color. Following is a detaileddescription of the new variety with color terminology in accordance withthe Munsell Color Cascade Chart except where general color terms ofordinary dictionary significance are used.

Parentage: A change seedling.

Localities where grown and observed: Poukawa Orchards, Hastings, NewZealand; Institute of Horticulture and Plant Breeding; Wilhelminadorp,Holland; Lincoln Research Station, South Island; New Zealand; D.S.I.R.Research Station Havelock North, New Zealand; W.S.U. Research StationMount Vernon, Wash., USA; W.S.U. Research Station, Prosser, Wash., USA;Grower Orchard, Parker, Wash., USA.

Tree: Medium large, moderately vigorous, bushy with dense foliage,spreading.

Ploidy: Diploid.

Trunk: Medium stocky, smooth, dark grown (26-15).

Branches: Medium thick, smooth, much branched, green-brown (23-13).

Lenticels: Large size, many, angular, whitish-grey.

Twigs: Slender, brown with reddish-brown terminal buds.

Dormant fruit buds: Conical, intermediate apex, medium pubescence.

Leaves: Oval, abruptly pointed, medium thick.

Length.--Average 7.9 cm.

Width.--Average 5.8 cm.

Color.--Dark green (19-12), shiny.

Texture.--Leathery.

Position of maximum width.--At center.

Margin.--Coarsely serrate, blunt serrations.

Hairiness.--Absent on upper side, medium on lower side.

Surface configuration.--Upfolded.

Shape.--Abovate.

Apex.--Cuspidate.

Base.--Rounded.

Petiole length.--Medium to long (3.3-4 cm), slender.

Leaf length/petiole length ratio.--2.5:1.0.

Stipule length.--Long.

Substipule.--Absent.

Pose.--Upward.

Veins.--Some leaves with pink on back side, green on front (veins onleaves growing in shaded areas have a tendency to remain green on backside).

Flowers: Late flowering.

Overall color.--Light red (43-8).

Size.--Small.

Shape.--Flat or slightly uncupped.

Color of bud.--Pink.

Sepal length.--Short.

Sepal length/width ratio.--2.0:1.0.

Sepal shape.--Tapered.

Sepal color.--Green with light red tips.

Sepal pose.--Reflexed.

Sepal base.--Obtuse.

Petal base length/width ratio.--2.0:1.0.

Petal arrangement.--Touching.

Petal pubescence at base.--Absent.

Stamen number.--Many.

Stamen pose.--Upright.

Stamen color.--Red.

Anther shape.--Typical for apple (2 cells).

Filament pose.--Upright.

Filament length in relation to styles.--Longer than styles.

Pollen color.--Yellow.

Styles--length in relation to stamens.--Shorter than stamens.

Styles--point of fusion: Near base.

Fruit:

Maturity when described.--Eating ripe (specimens described were grownand observed at Hastings, New Zealand).

Size.--Large; axial diameter 6.7 cm; horizontal diameter 7.2 cm.

Length-breadth ratio.--0.9:1.0.

General shape.--Oblong.

Symmetry.--Symmetrical.

Ribs.--Distinct.

Crowning at eye end.--Medium.

Basin.--Abrupt, deep, five-crowned.

Basin width.--Medium to wide.

Basin angle.--Acute.

Basin pubescence.--Present.

Basin markings.--None.

Eye--aperture.--Closed.

Eye--length of sepals.--Long.

Eye--pose of sepals.--Partly reflexed.

Cavity.--Depth: Deep. Width: Medium. Angle: About 90 degrees. Amount ofrusset: Moderate. Type of russet: Patchy.

Stem.--Protrusion: Much beyond cavity. Length: Long. Thickness: Slender.Distinct swelling at end: Absent.

Skin.--Surface texture: Smooth. Bloom: Absent. Greasiness: Slight.Shininess: Moderately shiny. Toughness: Slight. Type of ground color:Green-Yellow (25-10). Intensity of ground color: Medium. Type of overcolor: Red (42-12). Intensity of over color: Bright red. Form of overcolor: 75-100%. Number of lenticels: Many, distinct. Size of lenticels:Medium to large. Color of lenticels: Yellow-orange. Russet: Mainly incavity.

Flesh.--Color: Yellowish (24-3). Juiciness: Medium. Firmness: Firm.Texture: Medium. Flavor: Sub-acid. Aroma: Distinct; complex and highlyaromatic.

Calyx tube.--Length: Long. Width: Medium. Shape: Y-shaped. Position ofstamens: Median. Pistil: Persistent. Pubescence of pistil: Moderate.Fusion of styles: United at base.

Core.--Size: Small. Position: Median. Distinctness in longitudinalsection: Strong. Distinctness in cross section: Narrow.

Core cell.--Length: Short. Breadth: Narrow. Aperture: Open (in crosssection).

Number of seed cells.--Five.

Seed.--Size: Medium. Length: 9 mm. Breadth: 5 mm. Length/breadth ratio:1.8:1.0. Thickness: Flattened. Apex: Acute. Color when dry: Dark brown(32-15). Average number: Ten.

Phenology:

Time of full flowering.--About October 16 in Hastings, New Zealand.

Flowering period.--About October 12-20 in Hastings, New Zealand.

Time of Maturity for picking.--About April 14 in Hastings, New Zealand.

Fruiting season.--Late.

Use: Dessert, juice, culinary, fresh market.

Keeping quality: Very good.

Winter hardiness: Hardy where grown.

Precocity: Very precocious (similar to Golden Delicious).

Diseases and pests:

Apple scab.--Slightly resistant.

Mildew.--Slightly resistant.

Canker.--None observed.

Brown rot.--None observed.

Aphids.--Not tested.

Green crinkle.--Tolerant.

What is claimed is:
 1. A new variety of apple tree substantially asshown and described herein characterized by its bright red fruit with arich aromatic flavor and taste, unique ability to store well over longperiods of time in both common and controlled atmosphere, and itsability to bear abundantly on an annual basis.